


give me your heart, make it real (or else forget about it)

by fictionalportal



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Dancing, F/F, Trini's got some moves, and Kim's got some feelings about them, dance class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-04 08:11:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10986954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalportal/pseuds/fictionalportal
Summary: Title from "Smooth" by Santana, based on a tumblr prompt from @captainhoyw:“trimberly dance class prompt. just. the idea of like trini being into hip hop and smoother spanish music (check santana) is like so embedded in my mind at this point and i need a fic where trini either decides to, or has been, going to dance classes and then the rangers tag along at some point and its gay”Or, Kim sits in on Trini's dance class and gets a little flustered.





	1. Chapter 1

“You’re in a _dance class_?” Zack asked, laughing out the question. The Rangers had headed to Krispy Kreme after training, and he had nearly choked on his doughnut when Trini revealed why she needed to leave soon.

Trini scowled at him. “My mom figured that if I was in an extracurricular I’d be less likely to start fights with, say, an annoying fellow superhero.”

“I’m sorry,” Zack guffawed. “I gotta ask. Do you wear a tutu?” He doubled over and slapped his hand on the table. To Zack’s right, Billy winced and scooted nearer to the edge of the booth.

“I used to do ballet,” Jason mused from his spot at the head of the table. He had pulled up a chair, and Kim and Trini shared the other bench at the booth.

Zack stared incredulously at their leader, no doubt imagining him in a leotard.

Trini flashed a small smile at Jason, thanking him for taking the attention off of her. “I gotta go,” she said, gesturing for Kim to move from her spot on the outside of the bench so that Trini could leave.

Kim didn’t get up right away. “Hang on,” she started. “I’ll drive you. Meet me out front?”

Trini shrugged and followed Kim toward the door. She wasn’t about to turn down a free ride, especially if it meant she got to spend some time with Kim in the absence of Zack’s wiggling eyebrows and endless innuendos. He hadn’t stopped taunting them since he’d walked in on what he’d (wrongly) assumed was a private moment between the girls. One of Kimberly’s tattered old workout tanks had gotten torn by a glancing putty punch, and Trini had simply assisted her in removing said shirt because the blow had left a nasty cut on Kim’s ribs that left her unable to fully extend her arms. Friends help friends strip out of bloody, ripped clothes.

Regardless of what Zack thought, there wasn’t anything going on between Trini and Kim, and nothing would make Trini admit that she wished otherwise. She could only imagine the horrible smug face that Zack would make if she told him he was right about her fluttery crush on her teammate.

Kim pulled up in front of the Krispy Kreme and rolled down the passenger’s side window. Trini felt her cheeks flush--Kim’s oversized sunglasses looked so _cute_. Jason always looked ridiculous in his aviators. What right did Kim have to look good in glasses that were too big for her face?

“Ready?”

Trini opened the passenger’s side door and hopped into Kim’s pink jeep.

***

Kim thought she was doing Trini a favor by driving her to her dance class. She had no idea how much she would get out of staying and spectating.

Kim walked Trini inside, hoping to find a water fountain. Normally she relied on Trini’s ever-present water bottle for her post-training hydration, but Kim didn’t want to finish off the other girl’s water before her dance practice. Kim lingered in front of the giant glass window that stared into the white walled studio, watching the dancers stretch. Most of them wore loose tops and skintight leggings. Trini was still in her workout gear--or rather, Kim’s workout gear. Trini had overslept and forgotten to pack her gym bag, so Kim had lent her a bright pink tank top and a pair of spandex shorts.

Yes, Kim could have given her teammate a pair of flare-leg yoga pants or her baggy cheer cover ups instead, but when Trini had asked about borrowing clothes, Kim had seized the opportunity, which had led to Kim being very focused while watching Trini spar with Zack. She was fully invested in observing how the toned muscles in Trini’s smooth legs flexed and tensed with each kick, each step, each minor adjustment. She’d snapped back to attention when Billy had asked her why she was breathing as heavily as either of the two fighters.

Surely Trini wouldn’t mind if Kim hung around at the dance studio.

When drums started playing over the speakers, Trini and five other dancers assembled in a three-row triangle facing the mirror wall on the right side of the studio. The caption stood in front with two dancers behind her, three dancers at the back. Trini was in the second row in the spot closest to the window. Kim’s eyes were glued to Trini’s profile, the dancer’s defined calves and thighs competing with her spandex-clad hips for Kim’s attention.

Kim recognized the rock song from one of her dad’s favorite CDs. The unmistakable guitar hook, the rich percussion, and the Spanish flair--“Smooth” by Santana. The singer was saying something about being _“seven inches from the midday sun”_ when Kim saw Trini laugh at something that one of the other dancers said. Trini’s gaze flickered over to the window, and her grin widened when she spotted her teammate lingering outside the studio. Kim waved enthusiastically just as Trini looked away, her attention now on the captain.

The captain shouted, “Five, Six, Seven, Eight!”

When the chorus of the song started, so did the dancing. The routine began with a sequence stolen from the cha-cha that led up to Trini moving her hips in a way that made Kim’s head spin. A jazz step followed, and all of the dancers one-eightied. A second cha-cha series, which Kim found even more dizzying from this angle. Trini glanced over her shoulder, and Kim swore she saw a smirk play across her face as she spun to face the mirror again.

One of the dancers in the back row fumbled on the following pirouette and collided with his neighbor, but the rest of the crew kept pace. Then the singer _moaned_ the song’s title, and Trini’s hands were on her hips, gyrating almost obscenely. Kim hoped that the heat that she felt pooling in her stomach and rising in her cheeks wasn’t obvious (it was. She was blushing as furiously as the dancer who had botched the pirouette).

The chorus of the song brought half-time cha-cha hip swivels, which Kim was certain would be the cause of her premature death. Forget intergalactic threats. Watching Trini cyclone would be what stopped Kim’s heart.

On the final hit of the chorus, each of the dancers broke form and struck a unique pose. Trini was poised to blow a kiss at the mirror when the music cut out.

Kim exhaled for the first time in almost a minute, releasing a breath she didn’t realize she was holding hostage.

***

“Alright, take a breather, guys! Not you, Preston. Go over that spin first. Crew two, you’re up,” the captain said, dismissing Trini and most of the rest of her group for a water break.

The dancers filed out of the studio towards the water fountains. Trini hung back, interested to hear one particular spectator’s feedback. She approached Kim, who, by the sweat on her brow and the flush in her cheeks, might have just finished sprinting a mile.

“Hi,” Trini said with an edge of teasing. She looked Kim up and down. “Something got you bothered?”

“That wasn’t ballet,” Kim sputtered, blinking a few times quickly.

Trini scoffed.

Kim regained some semblance of put-togetherness and continued. “Sure beats imagining Jason in a tutu.”

“What, you don’t think tutus are sexy?”

“Not as sexy as y--” Kim cut herself off, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open around her unspoken final word.

Trini raised her eyebrows, an amused smirk tugging up the corner of her lips. She punched Kim lightly on the shoulder. “Hang in there, Hart. We’ve still got forty-five minutes to go.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim is a hopeless hot mess, Zack may have kidnapped a peacock, and Trini wonders

“So I’ll see you Tuesday after training?” Kim asked quickly as she pulled up in front of Trini’s house, dropping her home just in time to be late for dinner. Kim had offered to drive Trini to her dance classes again on Tuesday and Thursday. Kim suspected she wouldn’t be able to sit through another evening in the studio without wanting to jump Trini in the back of the pink jeep afterwards, but being the kind and considerate friend that she was she’d made the offer nonetheless.

“You’ll see me Tuesday _at_ training.” Trini said, obviously thrilled with the unpredicted outcome of having Kim around at the studio. She continued, teasing Kim relentlessly. “And at training on Monday. And every day in bio.”

Kim huffed out a breath and offered Trini a tight smile. Trini grabbed her bag out of the back seat and hopped out of the jeep, the pale gravel of the driveway crunching under her shoes. Then, because Kim was brilliant when it came to dealing with her feelings, she simply nodded at her friend and started driving away.

“Hey! Do you want your clothes back?” Trini shouted after her.

Kim yelled out the window, “You can keep ‘em!” and sped out of the gravel driveway. She nearly took the Gomez family’s mailbox with them as she swerved out onto the street.

She spent the entire week being inconveniently distracted. The memory of watching Trini’s dance class intruded at some particularly inopportune times:

On Tuesday, during a bio lab about blood typing, she sort of accidentally stabbed her lab partner’s finger when she so much as heard Trini laugh from across the room. Her partner yelped in pain, complaining that she was only supposed to draw a drop of blood and not enough to actually give someone a transfusion.

On Wednesday, she almost failed to block a blow from Zack while sparring with him at training. Almost. Trini and Billy were sparring next to them, and Trini was dodging all of Billy’s most creative attacks, deflecting his punches and ducking his kicks--all while wearing the same workout gear that Kim had lent her for dance class. Then Zack threw a one-two combo and landed the body shot, which brought Kim back to her own fight. He tried to catch her with a left-handed hook, but she...overreacted. Instead of simply blocking him, she trapped his arm and flipped him onto his back.

On Thursday, she insisted on stopping at Krispy Kreme on the way to dance class so that she could distract herself with doughnuts during Trini’s dance class (eating made it easier to stop thinking about what she’d rather be doing with her mouth). Trini waited in the car, asking if she could keep the keys and listen to the radio. On the way out of the shop, Kim dropped a dozen doughnuts on the ground because Trini was unabashedly belting along to the radio and grooving in the front seat.

On Friday, Kim decided that something needed to be done. She cornered Jason at his locker before lunch and explained as quickly and quietly as possible what was going on.

“I can’t keep hurting innocent people and doughnuts!” She hissed.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t call Zack _innocent_ \--”

“Jason,” Kim said firmly. “I will not make it through another dance class. Need some leaderly wisdom here.”

She could see the wheels turning in his head and hoped that it wasn’t some harebrained idea.

“Well, we’re all hanging at mine tonight, right?” He started. “I’m sure Zack and Billy won’t mind if you guys disappear for a little bit.”

“What?” Kim’s voice dropped to an even softer whisper, and Jason had to lean in to hear her. “I’m not trying to get her into bed. I’m trying to get _revenge_.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at her, throughly confused. “Revenge?”

Suddenly Zack burst into their conversation by swinging an arm around both each of them. He glanced between them expectantly, and Jason came through with an explanation as Billy joined the circle, standing on Jason’s other side.

“Kim wants to get revenge on Trini.”

“For what?” Billy asked.

Zack put his forehead against Kim’s. “Did she do something horrible to you?”

“Gross,” Kim said, shoving Zack’s chest. “No.”

Zack raised his eyebrows.

Kim was a terrible liar and she knew it. She sighed. “Yes. I had to sit through three of her dance classes this week.”

“And you have some deep-seated hatred for music that we don’t know about?” Billy proposed. “Because if you do, we’re gonna have a problem.”

“No,” Kim groaned.

Zack explained. “She doesn’t hate music, B. She’s just gay.”

“Bi,” she corrected him reflexively. She blinked a few times, wondering when she had come to that exact conclusion. “That’s the first time I’ve said that.”

“Hey, welcome to the club,” Jason said, reaching across their little huddle to clasp her hand. Kim gave him an odd look, but he simply nodded proudly.

Billy interrupted their bonding moment. “Hey guys.” He counted a list of items out on his fingers. “We’re gonna need a small remote-controlled stereo, duct tape, blankets--as many blankets as you have, Jason--a really good playlist, and a dozen of Zack’s homemade cookies. Your mom’s recipe.”

“A blanket fort,” Kim nodded. “With cookies.”

“The cookies are for me,” Billy said, straight-faced. “Zack owes me.”

Zack nodded. “That cage was the perfect size for the peacock.”

Kim looked between them, searching for some sign of sarcasm, but by all accounts they seemed to be perfectly serious.

“Alright, you all have your missions,” Jason said in his best Zordon impression. “Disperse!”

Billy looked at him. “We’re all going to lunch, Jason.”

They started walking toward the lunch room. Kim put a hand on Zack’s arm. “What...what happened with the peacock?”

“Oh man, you are not gonna believe this.”

***

Trini collapsed on her bed face first. It had been a long week, and she wasn’t really feeling up to game night at Jason’s. Between Ranger training, school, and dance, she was busy during every daylight hour. She’d also been finding it harder to sleep, despite being exhausted by the end of each day. As fun as it was to torment Kim, the teasing was a double-edged sword. Trini clutched a pillow to her chest.

She’d thought that she was just messing with an ex-cheerleader who was jealous of someone else’s moves. She’d thought Kim would turn green with envy when she watched Trini’s crew. But after that first class and after every class since, Kim’s face had been bright red, and now Trini wondered if she’d passed some point of no return in their friendship. Sure, she’d been harboring a crush on Kim since, well, forever, but she could generally contain herself around pretty girls. Years of practice had made her very good at deadpanning her way through conversations even if her heart was pounding its way out of her chest (and it always was when Kim was close by).

Kim, on the other hand, was apparently a hot mess around anyone she found attractive, and Trini was starting to think that she might be included in that category.

She heard her phone buzz on her night stand. There was a new message from Zack on the Ranger group chat that Jason had started.

 **8:11 Lord Farquaad [black heart]:** is anyone allergic to nuts

 **8:11 Lord Farquaad [black heart]:** who the duck changed my name

Trini wrote back, confessing to the crime.

 **8:11 Trini [yellow heart]:** I watched Shrek with my brothers last night

 **8:11 Trini [yellow heart]:** And I’m allergic to peanuts

 **8:11 Zordon Junior [red heart]:** Same

 **8:12 Billy [blue heart]:** Those cookies are for ME Zack

 **8:12 Trini [yellow heart]:** Also I might be a little late #powernap

 **8:12 Lord Farquaad [black heart]:** im making extra, b

 **8:12 Lord Farquaad [black heart]:** speaking of extra where’s kimberly

And then Trini’s screen lit up with Kim’s contact photo.

Trini picked up. “Zack wants to know if you’re allergic to nuts.”

 _“Nope. You’re still coming to game night, right?”_ Kim sounded...nervous?

Trini sat up, suddenly feeling a lot less tired. “Yeah.”

_“Cool.”_

The silence that followed made Trini wonder if the call had dropped. “Kim? You there?”

 _“Yep! See you at 9.”_ She hung up as suddenly as she’d driven out of Trini’s driveway every single day after dance class.

Forget power napping. Trini didn’t want to miss a minute of game night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know where this chapter came from but it's happening so here. this is slowly turning into a crack fic and i do not have the willpower to stop it ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> game night is up next. pls give me song suggestions for future chapters!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim tries to psych herself up for game night. Billy builds the world's best blanket fort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> splitting the next chapter into two because otherwise it would be very very looooooong.

Kim couldn’t spend the next forty minutes sitting around at her house. She’d get all wound up and then end up doing something completely wild at game night. She decided to check in with Jason in case he needed anything.

 **8:15 Kimberly:** Can I help set up?

 **8:15 Kimberly:** Oh and I’m not allergic to anything

 **8:15 Kimberly:** Except fragile masculinity and maybe Zack’s cologne

Since the falling out with the cheerleaders, Kim rarely thought twice about her outfits. Around the other Rangers, she was even less self-conscious about her looks, but thus far she had spent twenty minutes going through her closet and trying on tops. Suddenly, nothing seemed to match black skinny jeans. Her pink shirt was too bright. The lavender tunic she’d bought online was too small. She was already sweating a little, so a pullover was out of the question. Cardigan? Too formal. And a nice dress would just make the whole night feel like she was at one of her parents' business casual cocktail party.

She shook her head in the mirror and laughed to herself when she pulled on a plain white tee that she’d stolen from Zack after a sleepover on the mountain. His v-neck was a little baggy on her. With the black jeans and her leather jacket slung over her shoulder, she looked ready for a leading role in a Grease revival. She flopped over on her bed, landing in the pile of a dozen rejected tops.

Kim wasn’t one to run away from things that frightened her, but the thought of making a move on Trini honestly made her feel a little seasick. Getting dates had always been easy for Kim. Guys had all but thrown themselves at her since middle school, but Kim knew that her full-fledged infatuation with Trini was more complicated than adolescent hormones. This wasn’t something that she would be over after a single school dance or a hookup in the locker room after cheer practice.

Spiraling into memories of bad breakups and ruined friendships is typically not the best way to psych oneself up for a date, but Kim found herself focusing on Amanda. The whole situation had gotten so out of hand so quickly. First Kim was single, then she was dating Ty, then she was pushing another cheerleader up against the metal grate of a locker. Not just any cheerleader: her former best friend. Whatever was happening between them was moving fast, faster than Kim and Ty’s (mostly for show) relationship. While Kim and Ty only seemed to make out at parties, Amanda would only kiss her at night, in cars, in the locker room after everyone had gone home. Amanda tired of her quickly and laughed it all off as a joke, and Kim hadn’t taken kindly to being used.

The whole photo debacle was a classic queen bee reflex: if someone tries to take you down, bury them. But Kim hadn’t been thinking straight. She hadn’t made a plan. She hadn’t once thought ahead to possible consequences. She’d only wanted to hurt Amanda.

It wasn’t her proudest moment.

But she’d changed, she thought. She would never hurt Trini, and Trini would never hurt her. Their connection was so much deeper, so much realer, and so much more important. Kim resolved to put only her best effort into whatever happened between them.

The phone buzzed on the comforter next to her. Jason had finally replied.

 **8:31 Jason:** Yeah sure come over. Billy’s here

 **8:31 Kimberly:** Color me shocked :p be right there

 **8:31 Jason:** I could always tell him to stop working on this redonkulous blanket fort

 **8:31 Kimberly:** Omg

 **8:31 Jason:** Better text the guys and let them know game night is canceled

 **8:31 Kimberly:** “redonkulous”

It was nice to see Jason’s sense of humor pop its head up through the mire of serious leadership responsibilities that had been bogging him down lately. Game night would be a good break for everybody.

 **8:33 Kimberly:** Jason I’m lowkey freaking out

 **8:33 Kimberly:** Like just a little bit

 **8:33 Kimberly:** Also I’m at your door

 **8:33 Jason:** ...

 **8:34 Jason:** I didn’t know you guys knew houses had front doors

 **8:34 Kimberly:** Don’t be ridiculous. I’m in your backyard

Jason slid open the glass door to his back porch to find Kimberly. “You see what Billy’s up to?” He said, his eyes sparkling.

Kim tried to look inside the house, assuming that this grand scheme was being executed in the living room.

Jason looked past Kim and nodded his head. She turned around, following his line of sight.

It was like looking at a Pinterest page dedicated to camping aesthetic photographs. The blanket fort was in Jason’s backyard. Actually, the blanket fort had mostly taken over the backyard. Blankets hung down from wires that stretched from the house twenty feet back to the trees. Two full Ranger teams could have slept comfortably inside.

Billy emerged from the front of the blanket tent with a power drill, grinning when he saw Kim.

She resisted the urge to hug him right then. Instead, she just looked at him with the softest expression of gratitude and love.

Billy looked beyond pleased with himself. “I stopped by Goodwill and asked if I could borrow some of their blankets for a ‘very special purpose.’ They said no, so I bought them.”

“You bought all of these?!” She said, raising her voice a little.

“No, no, just four of them. My mom’s getting blankets for her birthday. And for Christmas.” Billy laughed a contagious giggle that the others couldn’t help but mimic.

Kim smiled, overwhelmed by her friends’ generosity and anticipation for the evening to begin. “Thanks, Billy. This is incredible.”

“Nahhhhhh. You now I’d do anything for you guys.” Billy shrugged, but his sly smile betrayed that he was utterly flattered.

Jason put a hand on her shoulder. “Now go get your girl, Hart.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim and Trini finally make use of Billy's epic blanket fort. Inspired by Lorde's "A World Alone."

Zack sat on Jason’s living room floor and gesticulated violently. “I swear, he just showed up one day in the mobile home park! And like, what are you supposed to do when a peacock wants to be your neighbor? I have no idea. So I named him Ralph.”

“You’re kidding. You never told me you named him!” Billy exclaimed from the couch behind Zack. Of everyone, he was by far the most invested in the tale of Ralph the peacock. He’d gotten cookies out of it, after all. “Now you gotta start over and call him Ralph from the beginning.”

“Anyway, we had to give him to the zoo ‘cuz he started sneaking into people’s homes and preening in their kitchens,” Zack continued.

“Sounds like something you’d do, Zack,” Jason said from next to Billy. “Hey, do people give you free food if you show them your abs?”

Zack’s face lit up. “I can’t believe I’ve never tried that!”

Kim and Trini sat on the ground with Zack despite the fact that Jason’s living room contained several vacant armchairs. The three of them had elected proximity to pizza over butt comfort and circled up around the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Works when I do it,” Jason said.

“No way,” Kim said.

“Benefits of being the quarterback.”

“You guys should have an abs competition. Who’s got a better six-pack?”

Zack answered, “Definitely Jason. Because I don’t have a six-pack. I’ve got an eight pack.” He reached across the table to high five Trini, but she kept her arms crossed over her chest, unimpressed. “Fine. I got two hands. I can high five myself.” And he did.

“Jason, can you get the cookies from the kitchen?” Billy asked.

“Absolutely.” Jason hopped off the couch. “Trini, can you help me with these?”

Trini’s brow furrowed, but she got up and followed Jason to the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, the three Rangers left in the living room huddled together.

“Alright, Kimmy, what’s your plan?” Zack asked.

“Hey, only Trini gets to call me that,” Kim snapped.

Zack started laughing. “Oh man, you are _whipped_ , Kimmy!”

“Respect the nickname, Zack,” Billy said. “He’s right, though. What’s the plan, Kim?”

“Um.” Kim froze. “I don’t know...we’re all having fun just hanging out--”

“Uh-uh. I built that blanket fort for _love,_ Kimberly, _love_. Now y’all are gonna use it!” Billy insisted.

Jason rounded the corner from the kitchen with a plate in his hands. Kim leapt up and blocked his way back to the living room.

“Jason! What do I do?” She hissed. “What if she hates the song I chose?”

“You’ve got a plan. Now relax,” he said.

Trini appeared behind him. “That’s the plan,” she said, another plate of cookies in her hands.

“Aw, Zack, you did make extra,” Billy said, taking the plate from Jason and digging in. With a mouthful of crumbs, he pointed to the other plate and added, “You guys can share that one.”

Trini gave the designated communal plate to Zack. “Hey, Kim, can I talk to you?”

“Uh, what? Of course,” Kim replied smoothly.

Jason whispered “chill” in her ear before patting her shoulder encouragingly.

Trini pivoted and headed back toward the kitchen, and Kim followed.

***

“What’s up?” Kim asked.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” Trini said. “You stressed or something?”

“Not really. I mean, a little, I guess.”

Trini practically had to vault to get up on the countertop, but it was worth it to sit down. Clearly Kim wasn’t going to let go of whatever was bothering her anytime soon.

“It’s my stats project,” Kim said quickly. “I didn’t get as much done it as I wanted before coming over--”

“You finished that project yesterday night. Or at least that’s what you told me when you canceled on coffee this morning.”

Kim’s mouth simply hung open for a second before she snapped it shut.

Trini braced herself, gripping the countertop. “Look,” she started, “if the extra driving is too much on your schedule, that’s cool.”

“What?”

Trini exhaled sharply. She was giving Kim the chance to either walk away or make a move, but Kim wasn’t biting. Trini shook off the thought of Kim actually _biting_ and continued. “It was, like, super nice of you to take me to my dance classes this week, but I get it if you can’t keep doing it.” She paused. “Or if you don’t want to.”

Kim didn’t say anything. When Trini looked at her, all she saw was parted lips and worried brown eyes.

Trini bit her lip, waiting for a response. When none came, she pushed herself off the counter and headed for the living room.

***

“Look, if the extra driving is too much on your schedule, that’s cool.”

“What?” Kim wasn’t sure that she had heard Trini correctly. Was she actually getting fired as Trini’s unofficial dance chauffeur? Had she done something to upset Trini?

“It was, like, super nice of you to take me to my dance classes this week, but I get it if you can’t keep doing it. Or if you don’t want to.”

The little pause before Trini’s last sentence told Kim something that she should have figured out much sooner. For all of her smugness about the dance classes and their effect on Kim, Trini was nervous. Trini, who’d kept her cool even when an evil ex-Ranger had broken into her bedroom and attacked her. Considering Trini was clenching her hands so hard that she was embossing her own fingerprints in the counter, Kim was fairly confident in her newfound reading of the situation. This was her chance to tell Trini that she felt the same: nervous and a bit scared, but thrilled by the sensation of a thousand butterflies tickling her heart.

However, Kim failed to say any of that out loud, and each of Trini’s steps away from her pounded against her eardrums.

“Hang on.” Kim’s hand found its way to Trini’s wrist. “I gotta show you something.”

The blanket fort looked even more amazing against the dark night sky. When Kim had arrived at Jason’s, the sun hadn’t quite set, and the pastel sky was certainly a pleasing backdrop, but Billy had prepared even more breathtaking surprises. Strings of warm, white lights lined the flat roof of the fort and hung down around the door.

Kim heard a very quiet “What the fuck?” from next to her. Trini’s tone indicated a combination of awe and genuine confusion.

“Billy’s masterpiece,” Kim said. “Come on.”

“Should we get the guys?” Trini asked, pointing a thumb over her shoulder.

Kim felt her stomach flip. “No.”

Trini’s face betrayed nothing, so Kim took a deep breath and opened the door of the blanket fort.

“After you.”

The inside of the tent was decorated with every beautiful, glowing fire hazard the boys could have brainstormed. Between the hanging lights and the candles, it was a miracle the tent had stayed standing for the past hour and a half. Kim hardly noticed the slight risk of fire--the speaker set up in the corner of the tent caught her attention. She made a mental note to ask Billy how he’d hacked into her Spotify account later, but at that moment she was thankful that he’d been so thorough.

The playlist that she and Zack had put together was already pulled up. She made a second mental note to never ask Zack for romantic help again. He’d added “The Hamster Dance” to the playlist three separate times. Kim scrolled through the list quickly just to check that he hadn’t snuck it back on.

Kim selected one of the less ballad-like songs on the playlist and turned back to Trini, who was standing just inside the entrance and taking in the decor. Her faint smile broadened into a sparkling grin when her eyes landed on Kim.

“This is dope,” Trini said.

Kim shrugged shyly.

“Cool song.”

“Lorde writes some cool stuff.”

“For sure.”

Kim tried to think of something else to say, but one thought was drowning out all the others. A quiet beat kicked in, and Kim couldn’t contain herself any longer.

“Dance with me.” Kim hoped that she sounded smoother to Trini than she did in her own mind.

Trini looked at her curiously, an expression similar to the one she’d made when Kim had very nearly said something deeply embarrassing after the first dance class she’d stayed for. She stepped up to Kim, amusement giving way to anticipation.

Kim took Trini’s hands and guided them to her hips. “Have you even done this before?” She teased.

Trini scoffed and pulled Kim closer, instantly shattering Kim’s composed veneer. She felt all of the air leave her lungs.

She laced her fingers together around Trini’s shoulders, and they all but ignored the beat of the song in favor of standing and swaying in each other’s arms. Kim dropped her forehead against Trini’s when she heard one particular line play over the speakers. It was the reason she had chosen the song: “ _you’re my best friend and we’re dancing in the world alone_.” The song wasn’t necessarily appropriate to a slow dance, but those words resonated too perfectly.

Kim closed her eyes and stopped pretending to dance altogether. She had her arms around Trini, and that was more than enough.

“Thanks,” Trini started, “for this.”

Kim pulled back, trapped in the unyielding dilemma of wanting to look at Trini or be as close to her as possible. “The guys helped.”

“Nah, I mean for finally saying something. I honestly don’t think your gay ass would have survived another one of my dance classes.”

“Bi,” Kim corrected. “And my ass wants my shorts back.”

Trini smirked. “Are you sure?”

Kim flushed pink. “...Yes. And wash them, please.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Feel free to borrow them whenever, though.”

Trini laughter filled the tent and tapered off just as the song ended.

Dense silence filled the space quickly. Kim hadn’t planned anything past asking Trini to dance. She had no script for this situation, but she felt the overwhelming (and decidedly not unfamiliar) urge to kiss Trini.

When Rihanna’s “S&M” started playing, however, that urge was replaced by the desire to punch Zack.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it! send me prompts any time over at fictional-portal on tumblr.

**Author's Note:**

> tbh i'll probably continue this...imagine Kim getting offended that Trini is such a good dancer and using her own dance skills to get revenge the first chance she gets


End file.
